Horton Hears a Who: An Unnatural Disaster
by AquaMermaid6
Summary: Horton had thought that Mt. Nool was a safe place where Whoville could rest in peace… But wasn't that where it was previously dislodged from a sunflower by a nut? What would happen if a real disaster struck?
1. Prologue

Well, this is my first fanfic so I hope you enjoy it and hopefully I didn't do too bad on it. I tried to add as much as I could to it so that it wouldn't seem too rushed. Reviews are welcome and I'd like to know about how I can improve so please offer constructive criticism. Oh, by the way, if this first part seems short to you, it's only the prologue so hopefully other chapters will be longer. Also, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up the little rhymes so hopefully it won't be too much of a problem. Well, enjoy the story!

FYI- This story takes place 8 months after the movie and also I am NOT a Jojo fangirl or whatever you call it. Jojo IS great but he is not the main focus of this story and at this point I'm not sure if he will even be in this story or not BUT Possibly a lot later in the story.

And of course I don't own Horton Hears a Who or any related characters. They belong to Dr. Seuss and Blue Sky Studios.

**An Unnatural Disaster**

**Prologue**

The sky was painted a beautiful pastel blue, untouched by clouds. Mt. Nool loomed overhead in the distance, towering over the Jungle of Nool and looking down on all its inhabitants. The sun shone proudly in the sky, shooting rays down through the canopy of trees. The sunlight reached a small pool where it reflected off the water and shimmered with the serene beauty of the day.

Suddenly, the surface of the water broke as an elephant emerged from its depths. This elephant was of course, Horton; taking his usual swim for the day. Horton was a friendly, loving, imaginative elephant who had saved a tiny town called Whoville from its destruction. This town was actually only the size of a speck of dust and now rested on a sunflower inside a cave on the top of Mt. Nool.

The elephant flipped over onto his back, doing a lazy backstroke. He stared up at the sky in wonder, admiring the beautiful sky. Today was so peaceful, not even a cloud in the sky. He wondered if this day could get any better.

"Horton!" "Horton!" "Horton!" Came the cries of the children as they emerged from the bushes, breaking Horton out of his daze.

"What is it, kids? Class isn't going to start for a while…" Horton asked the children in a confused way, climbing out of the water and onto the shore.

He looked down at their eager faces.

"Uh, what are you so excited about?" asked Horton awkwardly, feeling that he was missing something.

Finally, someone spoke up.

"It's… it's Rudy! He's…he's…" stammered Tommy excitedly.

"…Finally coming to class!" Jessica finished.

"…Really?" Horton gasped excitedly, trying to absorb it as a smile crept up his face.

_Finally! It was about time that Rudy's mother realized that she couldn't hide her son from the world anymore! He had to be exposed to it eventually._

"Well you know what that means, right kids?" He beamed at them with a goofy smile, waiting for an answer.

"…Well, he's got a lot to catch up on…" guessed Tommy, shrugging his shoulders.

"…haaahh…" Sighed Katie, as her eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Close… it means that we have a new student, kids!" Horton told them eagerly.

But at that moment, they were interrupted by a faint noise. Everyone froze and stopped what they were doing. The noise grew louder and clearer, almost as if something was approaching.

"Get behind me, kids!" Horton whispered to the children.

They silently obeyed, nervously looking around as they did so, almost as if something was about to jump out at them.

Suddenly, the sound stopped. Everyone looked at each other, wondering if they really had heard it at all.

Just then, the sound began again, causing everyone to jump. This time though, it sounded a little different. Horton could have sworn that it almost sounded like rustling. Rustling… like the rustling of plants... It came closer... and closer…until...

Just then, the bushes parted, revealing a small figure. Everyone gasped at once in surprise, ready for anything.

A small, purple kangaroo revealed itself, looking surprised to see them.

"Oh, it's just you, Rudy!" said Horton, relieved.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief… except for Katie. She simply stood there staring into space as if nothing had happened.

"Well, class as you already know, we have a new student today! Let's all give a warm welcome to Rudy!" Horton announced.

There was a chorus of "Hey Rudy!" among the children.

"Hey, he's finally out of the pouch!" exclaimed Jessica.

"Uh…hey everyone…" Rudy said, sort of shyly, "Sorry, I kinda got a little lost on the way. The jungle's a bigger place than it looks."

Everyone at once broke into conversation, excitedly chatting about the new-comer.

"Well… since you're all here, we might as well begin class early!" Horton decided.

There was a murmur of agreement among the children.

_And so, class began_

_Rather early that day,_

_Everyone unaware_

_That not all was okay._

_That something was approaching_

_Not too far away,_

_It was closing in,_

_Not to be held at bay._


	2. Chapter 1: A Warning

I still don't own Horton Hears a Who or any related characters.

**An Unnatural Disaster**

**Chapter 1**

The morning continued on without a single sign of a cloud. The sun moved higher up in the sky in its usual arc. When it was just past its highest point, Horton made an announcement to his class.

"Okay kids, I think that's enough for today. Class is dismissed for today."

"Bye Horton!"

"See you later!" the kids called as they left.

"Remember, red ants are best left alone and watched from a safe distance, kids!" Horton called after them, rubbing the bites on his legs with his trunk.

After the last kid was out of sight, Horton let out a deep sigh.

What a tiring morning this had been. After his swim in the morning followed by an early session of class, the elephant was pretty tired.

Horton opened his mouth wide and let out a long yawn.

Horton decided that since class was over for the day, he might as well take a nap for a while.

He surveyed the area around him, searching for a comfortable resting place.

Aha! Horton spotted a nice shady spot underneath a large tree.

He then went over to it and lay down. He stretched and let out another yawn. The tired elephant then curled up in the shade and fell asleep.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Less Than an hour later…**

"…orton…" There came a faint voice.

"…hor…ton…"

The elephant stirred in his sleep.

"…Hey!" The voice persisted, getting louder each time.

"Wake up!"

"Horton!"

Horton moaned and slowly opened his eyes to a squint.

"HORTON!" The voice shouted.

A small blue mouse perched on Horton's nose, looking him in the face.

"Ah!" Horton let out a gasp of surprise, jumping up and taking a few steps backward.

"Huh? Oh it's just you, Morton!" exclaimed Horton in relief.

"Jeez, you've gotta stop…"

"Listen, Horton! We've got a problem!" Morton interrupted him.

"A problem?" Horton asked doubtfully.

"Well not exactly a problem, just some unusual… um, well... happenings." explained Morton.

Horton looked around the jungle. Nothing seemed out of place.

"What's wrong? Everything seems peaceful to me." asked Horton.

"Look at the sky, Horton! See anything unusual?" Morton exclaimed, pointing at the sky and then pulling on Horton's eyelids.

Horton gazed up at the clear, blue sky. The sun sat lazily in the sky, continuing to shine its bright warm rays down into the Jungle of Nool. Although, in the distance, there loomed a colossal, dark black cloud. Compared to the beautiful weather over Nool, this cloud looked quite out of place…

"Wow, that's a BIG cloud…" Horton said in a lazy, unserious voice.

"Do you know what that means, Horton!?" Morton got even closer up in Horton's face.

"…uh…" wondered Horton, completely clueless.

Morton groaned and slapped his small hand across his blue face.

"Jeez, Horton. There's a HUGE thunderstorm headed this way!" Morton exclaimed.

"So what's wrong with that? How is rain such a big problem?" Horton asked.

"Well, Horton, this isn't exactly your regular storm. This one is gonna be huge! I mean look at the size of that cloud Horton!" Morton warned, trying desperately to get his point across to the clueless elephant, "I'm serious Horton, I don't like the looks of this."

Horton just stared at him, obviously still half-asleep.

"Well unless you want to be crushed by falling trees or struck by lightning…" Morton demonstrated this by crossing his eyes and falling over. He then quickly zipped up to Horton's head. Morton spoke into Horton's ear,

"Let me put it this way, if I were you, I'd find a safe place away from the jungle, like soon."

Morton zipped off Horton's head and onto the ground in front of him. He turned to face the elephant.

"Please Horton, just consider it, ok?" And with those words, the little blue mouse then disappeared into the jungle, leaving Horton to think about his warning.

"Hmm…" Horton contemplated. After a few minutes of thought, he finally reached a decision.

"Oh, well. Wonder what that was all about…" Horton said before returning to his nap. He had barely slept before Morton came, so he was still pretty tired.

_But that certainly was weird. What if Morton was right?_

Those were his last thoughts before Horton drifted off into sleep once again.


	3. Chapter 2: The Disaster

Well, this chapter is going to be a little more exciting, but I'm afraid it's gonna be short, like real short, so I decided to break it into 2 parts rather than 2 really short chapters. It's better to have one long chapter split into 2 parts.

I don't own Horton Hears a Who or any related characters.

**An Unnatural Disaster**

**Chapter 2 (Part 1)**

Horton felt something on his head.

_Uh, what now…_ He groaned in his mind.

He felt it again…and again… wait, just how many of these 'things' were there?

"Is that you again, Morton?" he asked in a tired voice, keeping his eyes closed.

The sensations continued, this time on his back.

He then finally realized that these 'things' were water droplets.

Wait…water?! Then that meant…

Horton's eyes flew open. The sun had been blocked out by the edge of the approaching black cloud.

It was enormous, just simply enormous.

_Exactly how long have I been asleep!? The storm is nearly here!_ Horton wondered franticly.

He quickly got to his feet but then brooded over what he should do.

Okay, so he had to find some place safe out of the jungle… but where?

A flash of lightning illuminated the sky, while thunder rumbled threateningly in the distance.

The rain came pouring down harder than before, thoroughly soaking the elephant's skin.

Oh, great. Horton could see where this was going.

The only enclosed space big enough to fit an elephant in the entire area was of course the cave up on Mt. Nool.

He was going to have to climb that mountain again? Great. Some day this was turning out to be.

Well, at least it would be easier this time without having to protect a speck on a clover the whole way.

Oh, yeah… that's right! He could visit Whoville while he was there!

This got Horton excited. He would finally be able to talk to the Mayor again after all these months…

A wide, unnatural smile formed on his face as he sat there in thought.

_We could hang out and talk like before… and hey, we could even form a secret club!_

_It would be the called the Clover Club and no one else would know about it!_

_We would have a secret code and a different language that no one else would understand!_

_And there would be meetings on Wednesdays…no, on every day!_

He chuckled goofily like a little kid.

_Well we wouldn't exactly be able to meet…and since Morton's my best friend he could join… I guess he's an exception…_

A bolt of lightning shot across the sky and crashed into a nearby tree, snapping Horton back to reality.

His eyes grew big as he watched the tree fall over right in front of him, engulfed in flames.

The fire was then put out quickly by the ongoing rain, leaving the tree covered in ashes.

He laughed nervously as he made his way around the wreckage, deciding that he should probably get going.

He immediately set off towards Mt. Nool, desperately sprinting through the jungle to get out of the rain.

Though, he secretly cared more that it was an excuse to visit Whoville, or rather, hear from it.

So this was his motivation as he ran through the jungle, racing against the storm as the rain pounded down on him and the thunder

shouted threats at him from the distance.

**Chapter 2 (Part 2)**

Horton tore through the wet bushes and plants, dodging trees and animals.

The animals he passed quickly disappeared into their own safe shelters, in places such as holes in the ground.

_Well, it looks like the people of Nool can take care of themselves._ thought Horton.

The rain was becoming increasingly heavier and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.

The trees started to thin out as he continued through the jungle, eventually giving way to a giant, seemingly bottomless cliff.

Several months ago, the animals of Nool had worked together to build a new bridge.

This was to replace the old one that had been destroyed when Horton crossed it 8 months ago.

The bridge had been constructed from bamboo from the bamboo forest and fastened together with jungle vines.

However, this time, Horton had made sure that it was made to support elephants crossing it.

As he made his way across the bridge, he was amazed at how stable the bridge was.

He quickly made it to the other side of the ravine with no problems.

From there, he continued on across the dark landscape through the rain.

As he hurried along, he recognized the area around him as the place where the mob scene had occurred.

Memories flooded back to him. The calls of 'We are here!'…

The mob of jungle animals roping and caging him…

'_It's not working…I can hear you but their ears aren't strong enough!'_

'_We need to be louder!'_

'_This will teach you to make up stories about people on specks!'_

'_Can they hear?'_

'_Nooooo!!'_

'_This doesn't concern you, Rudy. Back in your pouch!'_

'_WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE!'_

'_huh, I hear it!! They are there!!'_

'_And most of all, I'd like to thank the Mayor of Whoville, who believed in me from the beginning.'_

'_Oh, Horton…We're going to miss you!'_

…_miss you…__miss you…__miss you…__miss you…__miss you…_

The last part echoed in his head. He sighed… he missed them too.

He continued onward, not stopping even once to rest or catch his breath.

The sun remained eclipsed by the storm cloud, not even revealing itself once.

Horton finally reached the base of the mountain after a good 20 minutes.

The rain continued to fall, forming large puddles which quickly joined with other puddles.

"Uhhhh… I don't like the looks of this" Horton said to himself.

The thunder boomed again, louder and closer than before as the storm grew worse.

Horton stared up at the side of the mountain.

_Well, it's now or never._ thought Horton.

He slowly started making his way up the mountain through the icy, cold rain.

He climbed from foothold to foothold, hoisting himself up the mountain.

After continuing to scale Mt. Nool for a while, he found a ledge large enough to pause on for a second.

The wind was now starting to pick up. As he squinted through the blinding rain, he could barely make out the ground.

From what he could see, the rain had already built up enough to reach the flood stage.

Horton just simply stood there, shocked. Jeez, Morton wasn't kidding.

Maybe he should take Morton's warnings more seriously…

"KABOOM!"

There was a huge crash of thunder, causing Horton to jump and nearly fall off the mountain out of shock.

"Oh, right. I… should probably get going." He panted, laughing nervously.

He turned around to face the mountain and started his ascent to reach its peak.

_And so the elephant_

_Continued on his way,_

_Climbing up Mt. Nool_

_On that stormy day._

_Hoping to reach his friends _

_That he wanted to greet,_

_If only he could get there_

_So that again they could meet._


	4. Chapter 3: Whoville's Crisis Part 1

I might take a little longer to update now since this getting past what I had planned out. Holy snicker doodles! (sorry just felt like saying that :D) I can't believe how much freaking suspense I put in this chapter! God, I don't even know where I'm going to go from here when the suspense is over….ughhh...

This is open to ideas since I really DO want to complete this. And no, I think that the rest of the story should be something other than just suspense.

Of course you'll have to read to find out what I use, cuz I'm not gonna give away the story. This chapter was getting too long so it has been split into 2 chapters, 3 and 4.

I don't own Horton Hears a Who or any related characters.

**An Unnatural Disaster**

**Chapter 3**

_**Meanwhile…**_

Inside a cave, resting on top of a sunflower, Whoville was flourishing. Everything seemed at peace, as if nothing had happened over half a year ago.

Today had been another beautiful day, with cloudless skies and warm temperatures.

The Whos were enjoying themselves outside in their yards and at the park.

They played tennis on their roofs and flew kites while young children played catch together.

The Mayor of Whoville was getting ready to leave his office after a long day at work to have dinner with his family.

As he rid the air tube down to the first floor, he thought about how the day had gone.

Even after all this time, he had still failed to get his way with the council.

They continued to ask for good news, and only good news.

If he presented anything other than that, they would push the happy button and trap him inside a glass dome.

They would then yell at him until they were satisfied and then kick him out, literally.

He couldn't understand why they still rejected his ideas to protect Whoville, even after what had happened with Horton.

_Horton… _He sighed. He would never forget what that elephant had done for them.

Jeez, how long had it been since the incident? How long had it been since he had been called crazy for hearing Horton's voice?

How long since they had chanted 'We are here!' in perfect unison to save their world?

A month? A year? Ned couldn't keep track.

As he stepped outside, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

No one was on the streets. No cars were being driven through the street.

All the kids that had been outside playing were now indoors, all at once.

He paused a moment to look at the sky. That's weird, it was dark out. How could it be dark already at this time of year?

It had just been another sunny day with flawless skies…

Hot, dry weather… did this mean that the rainy season was approaching?

Rainy season meant more storms and of course, heavier rain.

Ned felt a drip of water land on his head. Before he could respond another hit him… and another…

Almost immediately, the drops started coming down all at once, soaking his fur.

He sighed.

_Great, looks like we're having a storm._

The Mayor rushed home through the downpour, nearly slipping in a puddle when a flash of lightning lit up the sky.

He had soon reached his house. He had opened the door and just before he made it inside, there a huge boom of thunder.

"Ah!" He yelled in surprise, jumping so high that he hit his head on the top of the door frame.

This only caused him to scream again, only 10 times louder.

He groaned in pain as he rubbed his throbbing head. He then headed inside to get an ice pack out of the freezer, shutting the door behind him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

By now, Horton was pretty far up Mount Nool. The rain continued relentlessly while the wind had gotten so strong that it threatened to throw him clean off the mountain. At that moment, through all the noise and confusion, through his exhausting climb, Horton suddenly sensed something.

It was so faint…

No, he could've sworn that it was a sound, a small noise… almost as if…

As it became just a little bit louder and then abruptly stopped, he could've sworn that it sounded like a scream.

A scream…a very familiar scream… he recognized it instantly.

That meant that he was getting very close…

He grinned silently to himself.

Oh, but it also meant that the Mayor had gone and gotten himself injured again.

_Poor guy._ He thought, feeling sorry for the clumsy Who.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The Mayor looked out the window, icepack in hand. He was extremely shocked at what he saw outside.

Whoville was already flooded, and the waters were rising extremely rapidly, probably up to about 1 foot by now.

Water had already started to leak into the house, piling up at an amazing rate.

How was that possible?! What was up with this crazy weather?! And it all happened so suddenly…

The Mayor's heart pounded against his chest. He was sweating like crazy, probably enough to double the water level.

He turned away from the window, nearly knocking into his wife that now stood before him.

He gasped for breath, trying to calm himself down.

"Uh…hun?" he stopped, suddenly noticing the worry in Sally's eyes.

"Ned, what is going on?" she asked in a concerned voice.

He grasped his hands together nervously, not being able to answer her question.

"This isn't normal! Whoville never gets this much rain, especially this early in the season!" She continued. Ned noticed a brief spark of fear in her eyes.

"I'm afraid that something is very wrong, and that this might have something to do with Horton's world."

She suddenly had a look of absolute terror on her face. This alarmed Ned, he had never seen her this way before.

"I-I…" She started to sniffle, "…just don't know what t-to d-do…" Her sniffles turned to sobs.

She fell into Ned's shoulder, crying crazily as she poured out her feelings.

"Don't… know… how…feel helpless…need to… protect family…" she gasped through her sobs.

He wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. despite the fact that he felt the same way.


	5. Chapter 4: Whoville's Crisis Part 2

Btw, there's a lot of splits in this chapter for when it changes view from Whoville to Horton.

I don't own Horton Hears a Who or any related characters.

**An Unnatural Disaster**

**Chapter 4**

Horton was getting extremely close to the cave on Mt. Nool. He scrambled up the last few footholds and blindly hoisted himself into the cave.

He instantly fell to the ground, his heart was racing.

"F…fin…ally!" He panted.

"Ne…ver… again…" He struggled to catch his breath.

As he looked around the cave, his heart nearly stopped. He gasped. Oh, no. It was slightly flooded.

Well, at least it wasn't as bad as the jungle was. Unlike the jungle, the water in here wasn't nearly as deep.

As he got up, he suddenly noticed the sunflower that was nearly submerged in water.

Water was beating down on it from the hole in the ceiling of the cave.

"Oh, no!" He gasped.

He ran over to the sunflower without hesitation and instantly started yanking on the thick stem.

He tried desperately to get it out of the water and out of the rain…

The mayor sat on the roof, huddled together with his wife and kids. The water had risen so high in their home that they had been forced up onto the roof. Sally approached him.

"I'm scared. Ned. I really want to think that everything is going to turn out okay...but… " She held back a tear, forcing herself not to cry again, knowing it would only worry Ned further if she did that to him.

"I'm not sure either." Ned said gloomily, shaking his head. He sighed.

"Well, I suppose all we can do now is hope that we will be saved again."

"Let's hope for the best." He agreed, lightening up a little bit, trying to have hope and forcing a smile.

All of a sudden, the ground shook and the gravity shifted slightly from side to side.

All the Whos felt it, stirring up more chaos and confusion.

Horton continued yanking vigorously on the sunflower.

When the thick stem suddenly snapped, Horton was thrown back, still clutching the sunflower in his trunk.

He landed on the ground, panting heavily.

The gravity of Whoville suddenly shifted sharply to one side, along with the rain. "Ah!" The Mayor exclaimed in surprise as his world shifted to one side.

Ned was sent helplessly tumbling toward the edge of the roof.

Though, this sudden tilting was only brief and gravity quickly returned to normal.

At the last second, the Mayor managed to reach out and clutch the gutter pipe that ran around his roof.

His wife was at his side in an instant, followed by his children who all helped hoist him back up onto the roof.

"…thanks…" he muttered, panting like crazy, trying to catch his breath.

He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take,

He hadn't been this scared in his life since 8 months ago. What should he do?! What should he do?!

He looked down at the rising waters. There was no hope left. It was all over.

He forced himself not to scream or cry, trying desperately not to panic.

Horton quickly recovered from the shock of being knocked onto the ground.

"Hello…? Mayor, are you there? Are you okay…? Mayor!?" Horton called franticly down to the speck.

After Ned had finally managed to calm himself down, something suddenly made him stop cold that wasn't the rain.

He heard something, even though it was very faint and barely audible.

But he was sure he heard it, and what's more, he could've sworn that he had heard it before.

His eyes instantly focused on the horn outside his office, though he was barely able to make it out through the storm.

Without another thought, the Mayor set off towards his office.

He ignored the shouts of 'Where are you going, Ned?' from his wife and 'Daddy, what are you doing?' from his kids as he made his way across the dark rooftops and winding staircases.

The rain pounded down on him, as if it were trying to stop him from reaching his destination.

He finally reached the winding stairs leading up to his office. He hurried up the steps to his office and scurried onto the balcony.

"…H…hello…? Are y-you okay!? Hello?? MAYOR!?" He heard Horton call desperately through the horn.

The Mayor smiled for the first time that day. It was him! Excitedly, he called back to Horton.

"Horton! I can't believe it, you're back!" The Mayor called into the horn joyfully.

Hearing the Mayor answer him, Horton almost danced with joy but stopped himself, knowing it would upset Whoville.

"MAYOR!! YOU'RE OKAY!!" Horton shouted in response, nearly blowing Ned off the balcony.

As Ned recovered, he suddenly noticed the huge body of water below him… oh, no… it wasn't below him anymore!

It had nearly reached the balcony!

Realization dawned on him as he noticed that the rain was still coming down hard and the water was rising at an astonishing rate.

He was already up to his knees in water!

"It's a disaster!!" He called out desperately, now up to his legs in water.

"The entire city's flooded! Please…just do something, anything Horton!" The water now reached his waist

"Time is running out! PLEASE, HELP!!" He was now up to his neck, barely keeping his head above the water.

"HOOOR- BLBBBFHH!!" He gurgled as the water covered his mouth.

Horton was terrified at how desperately the Mayor called out to him. What should he do?! What should he do?! He wondered franticly.

As he heard his friend suddenly start spluttering, he gasped in horror. He had to act…NOW!!

He couldn't let this happen… there had to be someway to stop it.

Horton desperately needed a solution, so he did the first thing that came to mind.

He turned the sunflower upside-down, praying that no harm would come of it and that it would work.

At once, Whoville was flipped upside-down, with the water now falling toward the sky. The water escaped through a hole in the atmosphere, previously created by the shouts of 'We are here'. As the water drained, the citizens of Whoville, including the Mayor, grabbed desperately onto buildings, which stayed rooted to the ground.

Horton watched the tiny puddle of water drain out of the speck. Jeez, that was one huge flood if it had consisted of enough water to be visible to him.


End file.
